Memphis civic leader and longtime insurance executive Eldredge M. Williams died Jan. 2, less than three months after the death of his wife of 63 years, Shadyne Carey Williams.

Mr. Williams died at his Whitehaven home after a long illness. He was 87.

Mrs. Williams died Oct. 15, and the family does not believe it is a coincidence his death followed so soon, said their son-in-law, Harold Collins.

"No, that is God's divine way of unifying them continually,'' said Collins, who served as a Memphis City Council member from 2008 to 2015, ran for mayor in 2015 and is vice president for community engagement at the Memphis Shelby County Crime Commission.

"They were inseparable,'' he said. "They traveled together. They served the larger church together. Many of the successes he had was attributable to her because she allowed him to go to those places and do those things he was able to do.

"When she passed he was literally heartbroken. He stepped back. I don't think that was a coincidence,'' Collins said.

Mr. Williams worked his way up through the ranks of Universal Life Insurance over a 44-year career there. He began as a soliciting and collecting agent in Little Rock, and by 1993 he was named executive vice president/chief operations officer.

He served in the Air Force, earned his bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1956 from AM&N College (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff), and completed courses in accounting, taxation and office management from the University of Memphis in 1968.

Mr. Williams was a member of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church for over 50 years. He served in many capacities, including on the New Building Planning Commission, as moderator (1988) and vice chairman of the trustees board. He also served the larger church, Disciples of Christ, as chairman of the board of trustees of the National Benevolent Association and as a member of the Centennial Steering Committee.

Mr. Williams also served civically in many ways, including as board member of the Chickasaw Council Boy Scouts. He also was a Boy Scout master, Cub Scout master and troop coordinator for Troop and Pack 144.

He was a board member of the Black United Fund, Girls Club of Memphis, Leadership Memphis, Memphis and Shelby County Youth Guidance Commission, Partners in Public Education and United Way of the Mid-South.

A life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Mr. Williams was initiated into the Gamma Delta Chapter of AM&N College in 1956 and later served as president of the Alpha Delta Lambda Chapter of Memphis for three years.

When Collins married Mr. Williams' daughter, Kimberly, "for the first five years of our marriage, my name was 'Eldredge Williams' son-in-law,' '' Collins recalled. "No one called me by 'Harold.' At first I was a little upset about that because as a young man growing up with a family you wanted to make your own mark.''

But Collins eventually realized people were not disrepecting him, but rather "were being respectful of my father-in-law. Because he gave me instant credibility. His service in the community, through the church, positioned him in such a way that people called him for advice, and to pray.''

Services for Mr. Williams will be at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church (70 N. Bellevue Blvd.). Visitation is 5-7 p.m. Thursday, and the "Celebration of Life'' will be at 11 a.m. Friday. Interment will be at West Tennessee Veterans Cemetery.